1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method for storing information in a database, as well as to methods for retrieving and viewing this data. The invention is equally related to computer programs for performing these methods.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In most computer storage systems, documents are stored in a tree-like structure, comprising folders, sub-folders, and documents stored in each folder. The search for specific information in such a structure is acknowledged as being very ineffective and time-consuming. Most document management applications provide so-called full-text search capabilities. What these applications do is to compile a list of all the words of all the documents in the system. When looking for information, e.g. by a search or browse operation, specific key words have to be entered by the user, and a program will search the storage system for these words. The result will be a list of all the documents in which these words were found.
The problem however with this kind of search is that it is not really refined. The result may be a very large list of documents, all containing one or more of the given key words. Furthermore, the level or relevance of each document is not indicated, so that the search amongst the documents of the resulting list becomes difficult.
Also, this type of search is limited to text files, and cannot be used for other types of information, such as graphics, pictures or video. These latter data can only be searched by looking for the right file extensions for example and by going through the tree structure, in the hope that they have been stored in an appropriately named folder or subfolder or under an appropriate filename, which may or may not allow the user to find the desired information.